The recent crackdown on opposition leaders by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has sparked allegations that the agency is being used by President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressive Congress (APC) to intimidate and weaken political rivalry ahead of the 2027 general election.
Following Monday’s overnight detention of one of the leaders of the coalition and former Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, and the invitation to Imo State Government officials to “urgently” provide information on the seven-month tenure of former Imo State Governor, Emeka Ihedioha, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has alleged that it has become crystal clear that the anti-graft agency is out on a hatchet job, a choreographed media trial targeted at bringing coalition leaders to disrepute.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC questioned the rationale behind the “urgent” reason to investigate David Mark, the Chairman of the coalition party, 10 years after leaving the Senate Presidency; Ihedioha more than five years after his brief tenure as governor, and Tambuwal two years after leaving office as Sokoto governor.
The party said the pattern of ignoring APC stalwarts with fresher and well-documented cases, while targeting opposition figures with stale allegations, is proof of selective justice and an assault on political freedom.
According to ADC, “The detention of one of our leaders, former Sokoto State Governor, Senator Aminu Tambuwal, has marked the start of the crackdown intended to intimidate key leaders of the opposition and discredit them through media trials.
“As shown in an EFCC correspondence currently circulating online, the Commission has now embarked on the investigation of another coalition chieftain, former Imo Governor, Emeka Ihedioha, with an “urgent” request to the officials to provide information related specifically to his brief seven months in office”.
The party said that Ihedioha, the former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, served as Governor of Imo State for just 7 months, from May 29, 2019, until the Supreme Court removed him on January 14, 2020, about five years and seven months ago. The party wondered what makes investigating him suddenly “urgent”.
“Most notably, the EFCC has now surreptitiously started excavating all the files from the ADC Chairman, Senator David Mark’s tenure as President of the Nigerian Senate.
“Let us remind Nigerians that our Party Chairman, Senator Mark, served as the Senate President for 8 years, from June 6, 2007, to June 6, 2015, making him the longest-serving Senate President in our history.
“He left office 10 years and 2 months ago. Three Senate Presidents after, the EFCC suddenly remembered that he was a Senate President”.
While the ADC stands for adherence to the rule of law and due process, it expressed curiosity over the timing, the selective targets, and political motivations that now seem to define the EFCC’s actions.
“A fight against corruption that begins and ends with the opposition is not justice — it is persecution. We have no doubts that this is witch-hunting; it is the APC government weaponising anti-corruption to do its political battle.
“Having failed to stop the coalition, the jittery ruling party’s next move is to discredit its leaders by getting the EFCC to accuse them of looting the entire treasuries.
“These are calculated media trials, which start and end with the accusation, the scandal, and the consequent lowering of public estimation.
“It matters little whether there is a basis for these accusations — the game is the circus show” ADC said.
